He had cried for just a short while before sitting himself up and wiping his face clean. She was a “stranger”, not one of the tribe anymore, at least in name. And so it gave Jumping Stone permission to let down his guard. But he did not cry long. Because although Red Earth had been exiled from the tribe in name, he knew she still carried in her heart and mind all the ways of the Swifthorn. She knew his public display of grief was not acceptable among the tribe after the first days of death.
Jumping Stone had crawled away from Red Earth’s lap. He now lay on his belly, leaning over the edge of the outcropping and looking down at the water below, perhaps searching for his turtle friend once more.
“Greatfather says it was you who sent for me, not the tribe.”
He nodded, not turning to look at her as he continued to scan the shallows. “There’s a lot of warring,” he said after awhile.
“Indeed. Many different people and different forces. You know about some of this already, yes?”
He nodded again. “The guardian wants to eat what he used to guard. And two snakes came out of the water to eat what they can before he does.”
“Before he does?” asked Red Earth, a touch concerned.
Jumping Stone shrugged, unsure of the words. He pushed himself up, turning to sit on his haunches and look Red Earth directly in the eye. “Do you like to fight?”
She was surprised for a moment by the question. But she gave him the best answer she could. “I go where my Path takes me.”
“But are you? Following your Path? Are you happy?”
Red Earth looked into Jumping Stone’s eyes now, searching. The way he spoke those words were uncannily similar to her father. But these were the eyes of a curious child she was looking at, not a sage old wise man. His next words made it seem as if the boy knew exactly what she was thinking.
“He says you haven’t been listening because the wars keep you too busy.”
“Does he want to know if I’m happy?” Jumping Stone shrugged at this as he turned away from her and started collecting stones from the ground. “He is right. I have been busy. Many things on my mind.”
‘He’ was Red Earth’s father, Dark Sky, the last Elder Shaman of the Blackhide. He had passed quietly in the night several years back, not long after she had left for her journeys away from the tribe. His passing had been hard for her personally. She had loved and revered him very much. He had taught her so much and had been willing to break tradition, entrusting her the ways of the Blackhide shaman when he could see that she bore the gifts despite the red color of her fur. It had also been a loss for the tribe as a whole as well. The twins, Two Cloud and Jumping Stone, were still toddlers when he had died, leaving a hole in tribal tradition without a proper shaman and a teacher for the two boys. Fate was not on Red Earth’s side to return to the tribe to teach them, exiled upon his death, her Path and visions lead her away from them.
Learning of the loss, the revered Skychasers of Thunder Bluff offered to send one of their own to teach the boys the shamanistic ways. Their aid was greatly appreciated and accepted, but for the Swifthorn it was still lacking. Tradition and teachings passed along by the Blackhides for generations had been lost with Dark Sky’s death. It was a loss the tribe would have to grudgingly accept.
But then a few years later, the twins started speaking of ‘the Night Man’. A Spirit that spoke to them in their dreams. He would tell them stories. And when asked to retell the tales, it became obvious they were old teachings of the Blackhide family. From this, it did not take long to figure out it was one of the Ancestors visiting them. And then not very long after that the two young boys started calling him by his true name, Dark Sky. Since then, it was accepted that the Swifthorn traditions would not be lost, the Elder shaman had found his way to the land of the Ancestors and from there could teach the children through their dreams. So strong was Jumping Stone’s connection to this spirit that in time he was even able to see the deceased sage while awake.
“He has a message for you, but you haven’t been listening lately,” Jumping Stone repeated. “So he told me the message so I could tell you. He said I should know it too anyway.”
“What is this message?”
“He says I should show it to you. But. . . .I don’t know how to do that. Elder Skychaser hasn’t taught me, he thinks I’m too young still. But Greatfather Dark Sky wants me to SHOW you. Not tell. SHOW. You will show me how, maybe? I think that’s what he wants. He wants you to teach me how.”
Red Earth smiled and nodded. Of course, she would teach him. Not just to know what the message was, but the very idea of sharing her father’s teachings to his predecessor just filled her with happiness. Jumping Stone smiled back brightly. Standing before her, he bowed. He reached for her hand and lifted it to his forehead, receiving her blessing as a revered Walker.
“It won’t look straight to you. He likes to tell them like stories because I’m little,” he warned. She told him not to worry, it was her father, she knew how he hides in stories. He then pointed to the ground. While they had been talking, Jumping Stone had taken the stones he had collected and placed them on the ground to encircle Red Earth, the largest rocks placed at the four cardinal points. Eagerly, he asked, “Did I do it right?”
“Almost,” Red Earth replied with another smile. “You will need to make one for yourself before me.”
Jumping Stone quickly returned to gathering more.
_________________ I am not the strong cord. I am not the ropes that bind.
I am what brings them together. I am the knot.
I am a shaman.
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